By Clara Ramírez —
NBC Los Angeles
The FBI asked the public for help in finding a 16-month-old child who allegedly
He was kidnapped by his biological mother, who does not have legal custody of him.
Authorities believe the minor may have been taken to Mexico.
The agency identified the mother as Brigette Benítez, 31, and at least as
Miguel Eduardo Zúñiga Medina
Jr.
[They are looking for a suspect in the murder of mother and daughter shot “senselessly” in their car in Massachusetts]
The child was last seen on February 6, 2024, at 09:30 am near the address 500 Grand Avenue in Walnut (California).
There Benítez supposedly picked him up and he has not been returned to his legal guardian.
Miguel Eduardo Zúñiga Medina, 16 months old, in a photo released by the FBI.
FBI Los Angeles
“Benitez, who does not have custody of Medina Jr., is believed to have taken him to Mexico after failing to return him to the foster parent where the Department of Children and Family Services had placed him,” the FBI said in a statement.
The minor was to have been returned to his legal guardian “after an unsupervised visit,” the agency reported.
Benítez and Medina Jr. were last seen in a black 2021 Toyota Camry with license plate 8WAS968, from California.
It is possible that the minor is with his mother in Aguascalientes (Mexico), which is why the FBI obtained an international federal arrest warrant for Benítez on Thursday.
The woman
is “charged with international kidnapping”
in a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court in Los Angeles.
The complaint alleges that Benitez “intentionally obstructed the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), which has legal and physical custody of Medina Jr.,” the FBI added.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI or the nearest consulate, or visit www.tips.fbi.gov.